The football adventures of Peter Miles

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Sport Club Courtraisien were formed 1901 and are registered with the Royal Belgian Football Association as club number 19 under their matricule system. By 1951 they had changed their name to Koninklijke Kortrijk Sport. A rival team in the city called Stade Kortrijk had been formed in 1923. By 1971 both clubs were struggling badly so the two clubs merged forming Koninklijke Voetbalclub Kortrijk. The club have adopted the nickname of “De Kerels” which roughly translates as “the Guys” or “the Boys”.

The club had enjoyed a spell in the top flight at the turn of the twentieth century which ended in relegation at the end of the 1910/11 season. Little did they know at the time it would be fully 65 years before Kortrijk would grace the elite division again. The club spent much of the 70’s and 80’s moving between the second and first tiers. Disaster struck in 2001 when KVK were declared insolvent and were relegated to Division Three. The club rebuilt and progressed back up the rankings, the club’s current spell in the Pro League has lasted since 2008/09.

The club play at the wonderful Guldensporenstadion which was named after the Franco/Flemish Battle of the Golden Spurs which took place in Kortrijk during July 1302. A relatively small venue with a capacity of 9,300, it has single tiered stands which makes for an intimate atmosphere.

The Reds fans are certainly a hearty and welcoming bunch and they are in fine voice tonight as De Kerels have been in good form this season. Against a struggling KV Oostende the hosts are two up before half time, a great free kick from Benito Raman and a wonderfully powerful run and finish by their burly Senegalese striker Elimane Coulibaly. Heavy rainfall makes playing conditions difficult, particularly in the second half, but the home side win 2-0 with some margin to spare.

If a traditional small town stadium and a club punching above its weight appeals to you, a visit to the Guldensporen comes highly recommended.

Oostende on the Belgian coast has always held an interest for me, due mainly to its famous seafront building called the Kursaal. So inspired by a stay in Oostende the Tollhurst family returned to Southend and built their own Kursaal at Marine Park which remains operational to this day. The football ground built in its substantial acreage would be home to my beloved Southend United between 1919 and 1934.

So a trip to the Albertpark Stadion was always on my wish list and what finer occasion than when the “Kustboys” welcomed runway leaders Standard Liège to West Flanders.

Koninklijke Voetbal Oostende were formed in 1904 and are registered on the Belgian matricule system as number 31. They were originally called V.G. Oostende but were soon superseded in status by upstarts A.S. Oostende, formed seven years later. The two clubs battled on until 1981 when a mutually beneficial merger saw the formation of the current K.V. Oostende club. Confusingly since the merger a new V.G. Oostende club have been formed and currently play in the fifth tier West Flanders Provincial League. They currently groundshare with K.V. at the Albertpark Stadion after having their historic Armenonville Stadion declared unsafe. The Albertpark Stadion itself was opened in 1934 and is reminiscent of Oxford United’s old Manor Ground with a hotchpotch of stands on either side. One stand appears to be of a temporary nature, no doubt installed to increase capacity to the minimum requirement of 8,000 (with 5,000 seats) for top flight football.

K.V. won the Belgian Second Division by a comfortable ten points last season which has resulted in their first spell in the top flight since the 2004/05 campaign. Sadly for the Coast Boys the new season has got off to a bad start and after six rounds of matches they prop up the Pro League table with just two points, their inferior goal difference placing them beneath fellow slow starters Mons. Conversely today’s opponents have got off to a flyer with maximum points from six games and without a single goal conceded. Indeed, they looked a good outfit when I saw them earlier in the season at KV Mechelen.

Oostende have bolstered their ranks in recent weeks with several loan signings including Frenchman Franck Berrier who had a great campaign at Zulte-Waregem last season. Anderlecht have also sent the Brazilian Fernando Canesin and Jordan Lukaku, younger brother of national team striker Romelu, on loan to Oostende. Even with their augmented roster this was going to be a tough challenge for the Kustboys. Football being the great purveyor of unpredictability that it is saw the Albertpark Stadion burst into delirium after 13 minutes when Laurent Depoitre pierced the Liège defence for the first time this season.

However, Standard soon exerted their authority on proceedings by scoring three times in a 15 minute spell before half time. Firstly Imoh Ezekiel levelled the score before a brace from the prodigiously talented 19 year old Michy Batshuayi, saw the visitors lead 3-1 at the break.

Just be for the hour mark the impressive Batshuayi completed his hat-trick in fine style. Two minutes later though Denis Dessaer headed a corner in at the far post having found himself totally unmarked. The volume was cranked up at the Albertpark Stadion but in truth the home side didn’t really look like they believed they could score a third time. They didn’t, and Standard saw out the 90 minutes with consummate ease.

The Albertpark Stadion is a good stadium to visit, compact and homely and awash with the home side’s vibrant colours of red, yellow and green.